Method for coloring crepe paper and resulting product



Aug. 16, 1932. ALDEN 1,871,769

METHOD FOR COLORING CREPE PAPER AND RESULTING PRODUCT Filed 001;. 7,1926 I77/7/e77/t0r' 6- arable "r R rfilderu 5, w, 3r

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Patented Aug. 16, 1932 AUNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MANUFACTURINGCOMPANY, OF FRAMINGHAM, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTSMETHOD FOR COLORING CREPE PAPER AND RESULTING PRODUCT Application m'eaOctober 7, 192e. Serial No. 140,040.

This invention relates to a method for coloring paper (more especiallycrepe paper and papers of llght Weight, such as tissue) and forrendering the same non-bleeding or relatively fast to water, and to theresuiting product.

The tendency of treating paper with an aqueous solution is to remove anyfolds such as those of a crepe finish which may have been imparted to itand to otherwise warp and distort its normally flat or generally flatsurface.

It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a methodfor making colored paper (which may also be creped) which shall benon-bleeding or relatively fast to dampness or wetting, and in which thesurface conformation or finish of the sheet shall be preserved and theoriginal strength substantially maintained. Other objects of theinvention will appear from the following disclosure.

The method of the invention therefore includes the creping of a papersheet, or otherwise imparting thereto the desired conformation and/orsurface finish desired, followed by treating the same with a non-aqueoussolution of the dye-substance to be employed, and finally expelling thesolvent.

The dyes used are preferably insoluble in water but are freely solublein the so'lvent used, to form therewith a solution which is capable ofreadily wetting and permeating the cellulosic fibers of the paper sheet.If the dye is normally soluble in water, or is not susceptible to directcombination with the paper, the sheet may be given a preliminarytreatment with an appropriate mordant or fixing reagent.

The solvent ispreferably a completely volatile liquid and withoutdeleterious effect upon the paper. The solvent need not be water free[methyl or ethyl alcohol, for example, containing 50% or more of waterbeing found in some instances entirely satisfactory for the purpose],but is preferably, either in whole or in large part composed of anorganic liquid or solvent, characterized by being substantially inerttoward the physical characteristics and properties of paper thoughcapable of promptly wetting and permeating the cellulosic fibers of thepaper and susceptible of complete removal from the sheet as bvolatilization.

A preerred and typical example of the application of the invention willbe described in relation to its adaptation for the coloring of crepetissue, reference being bad to the accompanying drawing, in which thefigure illustrates diagrammatically a side elevation of the apparatusemployed.

In the drawing, numeral 1 indicates a roll of tissue paper carried upona roller 2 rotatably mounted upon trunnions at 3. Means 4 are providedfor treating the paper with the first solution comprising a guide roller5, a flooding bar 6 (if desired or necessary), a roller 7 dipping intothe solution of adhesive or creping bath 8 contained in tank 9, and acreping roller 10, preferably contacting with the roller 7 andhaving adoctor blade 11 mounted in close contact therewith. A drying drum 12 isprovided with'guide rollers 13 and 14 and may also be equipped withheating means (not shown), such as steam. The dyeing means may comprisea pair of rollers 16, 17, the lower of which dips into the dye solutionv18 in tank 19, and is followed by any suitable means for winding orgathering up the finished sheet and also for removing and recovering thesolvent.

The sheet is first drawn from roll 1 and passed over guide roller5 andunder flooding bar 6 if used and thence over roller 7. or directlybetweeen roller 7 and creping roller 10, and then over the surface ofthe creping roller to the doctor blade 11. The creped sheet may then bepassed over guide roller 13, around drying drum 12, over guide roller 14and thence under flooding bar 15 and between the rollers 16, 17 coveredwith felt or the like, and finally to the drying apparatus, if used, andgathering equipment employed. The sheet may, in some instances, be drawnthrough the path as thus defined, but preferably the heavier parts arepositively operated at suitable relative speeds, in known ways. i

The sheet of paper is first wet by the creping solution which is broughtinto contact with its under surface by the roller 7. A sufiicientquantity of the adhesive creping solution passes through the sheet andis distributed by the flooding bar 6. This causes the sheet to adherefirmly to the creping roller 10 which carries it thereon to the doctorblade 11. 'Thecreping roller maybe heated by steam which serves topartially dry the sheet and thereby to increase its adhesion to thecreping roller. When the sheet reaches the doctor blade it is lifted oilthe roller 1n a succession of short folds or wrinkles which remain inthe paper and give it the creped or crinkled effect. \Vhile both thenumber and sizes of such folds are largely determined by the angle andshape of thedoctor blade. the number of such folds may be greatlyincreased with the firmer adhesion of the sheet to the roller and theheight or width of the individual fold may be correspondingly reduced.-The crepe ratio, or proportion of the length of the original sheet withrespect to the length of a creped sheet produced therefrom, may be ofthe order of 5 to 4 or as high as 10 to 4 under appropriately adjustedoperating conditions.

The crepe paper sheet next passes around drying drum 12 to removeresidual mo sture and thence between rollers 16, 17, the lower of whichapplies a film of the solution 18 to the under surface of the sheet. Asthe paper passes between the rolls they may slightly compress the same,thereby promoting a further and more uniform distribution of the liquidover its surface and into the sheet. This solution is composed of thedesired dye, preferably insoluble in water, and a volatile organicsolvent. For example. solutions of the following formulas have beensatisfactorily employed for the purposes of the present invention:

Blue dye solution Victoria blue base; 1 pound Denatured alcohol 60gallons Orange dye solution Oil orange 5 pounds Commercial benzol 60gallons Blue dye solution I Victoria blue B base 1 pound Denaturedalcohol 40 gallons plus 20 gal. water The dye solution penetrates thesheet and the fibrous structure thereof and dyes the cellulosic materialdirectly or, if a mordant or other fixing reagent be necessary. it isadded to the creping bath; and upon the dye coming in contact therewith,they react with each other and/or with the cellulosic substance of thepaper to form an insoluble dye in situ, contained largely within thefibers and in lesser degress upon their outside surfaces. The solventmay now be expelled and recover d in known ways, when the dried sheet isfinished and in condition ready for use.

Paper sheets as thus treated are characterized by preserving theiroriginal structure and by containing, primarily within the cellularstructure of their individual fibers, an insoluble deposit of the dyesubstance employed. Moreover, dyes may be employed in this manner whichare intrinsically non-solublein aqueous solutions and which need not befixed or mordanted to resist subsequent wetting of the sheet, as well asthose dyes which do require subsequent conversion in order either toserve as dyes with respect to the cellulosic fibers of the paper or tuberendered. insoluble, or both.- Again, the procedure permits of making aquantity of uncolored crepe paper and thereafter dyein it in suchquantities and at such times and with such colors as may be requiredwithout difficulty and without detriment to the crepe efi'ect in thefinal product produced.

In the practical application of the invention in the arts, variousmodifications of procedure and substitutions of materials treated anddyes and reagents used may and ordinarily will be resorted to. It is,however, to be understood that such modifications and substitutions areto be considered as comprehended in the above disclosure and includedwithin the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A method for making non-bleeding or fast-colored paper, whichcomprises treating the paper with a water-insoluble dye dissolved in asubstantially non-aqueous solvent, and subsequently expelling thesolvent therefrom.

2. A method for making non-bleeding or fast-colored paper whichcomprises treating the paper with a water-insoluble dye dissolved in avolatile organic solvent, and subsequently expelling the solventtherefrom.

3. A method for making non-bleeding or fast-colored paper whichcomprises treating the paper with a water-insoluble dye dissolved inalcohol, and subsequently expelling the solvent therefrom.

- 4.. A method for making non-bleeding or fast-colored paper whichcomprises treating the paper with a fixing reagent and with a solutionof a dye in a non-aqueous solvent, zfind subsequently expelling thesolvent thererom.

5. A method for making non-bleeding or fast-colored paper whichcomprises successively treating the paper with a fixing reagent and thenwith a solution of a dye in a substantially non-aqueous organic solvent,

and subsequently expelling the solvent therefrom.

6. A method for making non-bleeding or fast-colored crepe paper whichcomprises creping the paper, treating the crepe paper with a dyecontained in a non-aqueous solvent thereof, and thereafter removing thesolvent from the paper.

7 A method for making non-bleeding or fast-colored crepe paper whichcamprises creping the paper, treating the crepe paper with adye,relatively insoluble in water but contained in a non-aqueousvolatile solvent thereof, and thereafter evaporating the solvent fromthe paper.

10 8. A method for making non-bleeding or fast-colored crepe paper whichcomprises treating the sheet with a fixing reagent, crep- V in thepaper, treating the crepe paper with a ye, relatively insoluble in waterand contained in a substantially non-aqueous solvent, and thereafterexpelling the solvent from the paper.

9. A method for making non-bleeding or fast-colored crepe paper whichcomprises treating a paper sheet with a solution of fixing reagent andthen with a solution of a suitable dye, with intermediate creping of thesheet, the solvent of the final solution being characteristically asubstantially nonaqueous organic solvent.

10. A method for making non-bleeding or fast colored crepe paper whichcomprises treating the pa r with a solution, creping the paper, drying,and treating the crepe paper with a non-aqueous solution of awaterinsoluble dye, and finally expelling the solvent of the dyesolution.

Signed by me at Framingham, Massachussetts, this second day of October,1926.

GARDNER R. ALDEN.

